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Well, if the names in the title didn’t make you sit up straight and salivate, wait until you hear this. They’re almost here!!!

Arguably the two biggest names in prospectdom (I’m making words up now) are getting close to big league promotions. What in the heck are you going to do with your waiver priorities if they both hit the wire at the same time?

• Clayton Kershaw | AA Jacksonville Suns | Los Angeles Dodgers - Rumor has it, that Kershaw is going to be called up for a Saturday match-up with the Los Angeles Angels. So, what does he do in his final minor league tune up? He got shelled. Yesterday, Kershaw gave up five earned runs in 3.1 innings as his ERA ballooned to 2.21. However, if you look at the bright side, that’s the first time he’s given up an earned run since tax day, April 15th. He’s still striking out more than a batter per inning, and has 40 strikeouts and 11 walks in 36.2 innings of work. Expect many, many teams to execute the #1 waiver wire priority status if it’s made official that Kershaw will start Saturday. And check out Alex Eisenberg’s latest article about Clayton Kershaw at THT.
• Jay Bruce | AAA Louisville Bats | Cincinnati Reds - Let me get the bad out before I get to the warm, fuzzy stuff about Jay Bruce. Bruce is striking out too much at AAA right now. His contact rate is 75.36% as he’s struck out 34 times in 138 at-bats. But, he’s going to have to work on that “in the bigs” as Baseball America just made Bruce the prospect of the day today and stated that a promotion of Jay Bruce to Cincinnati could be imminent. Bruce has slash stats of .348/.375/.609 with seven doubles, four triples, seven home runs, and seven stolen bases in his 37 games at Triple-A. The biggest prospect in all of baseball seems to have nothing more to learn in the minor leagues.

23-year-old pitching prospect, Greg Reynolds is being called up to enter the Colorado Rockies rotation this Sunday, as Mark Redman has been sent to the bullpen. Reynolds, who is 6′7″, is a ground-ball specialist who was taken in the first round of the 2006 draft (second overall).

Last season, before a shoulder injury ended his season, Reynolds was 4-1 in eight starts with a 1.42 ERA and a 3.88 strikeout to walk ratio (35:9) at the Double-A level. He hasn’t been quite so stellar this season in seven starts. His record is 1-2 with a 4.86 at Triple-A Colorado Springs, but it’s his strikeout to walk ratio of 1.77 (16:9) that is troublesome.

The Rockies front office seems to be less than thrilled with the promotion of Reynolds, as they would have preferred to wait a while longer. That’s just an option that is no longer available to this pitching staff.

Officially, the Rockies said they were acting cautiously with the prized prospect’s tender right ankle. Unofficially, they have been unable to complete a trade for Cincinnati’s Josh Fogg or Boston’s Julian Tavarez, leaving Reynolds as the most viable alternative for a disappointing rotation.

General manager Dan O’Dowd’s preference was to promote Reynolds next month, allowing him more time to increase strength in his surgically repaired right shoulder. A Triple-A teammate said Wednesday that Reynolds, just 21, has shown huge improvement in his last few outings after eschewing off-speed pitches early in counts and regaining command of his sinkerball.

Seattle Mariners prospect Wladimir Balentien was called up from Triple-A Tacoma and got his first at-bat’s of the 2008 season last night in an 8-3 loss to Cleveland. Balentien had an impressive start going 2-4 with 3 RBI and a run scored, with one of those hits being a 7th inning three-run home run off of Cliff Lee.

Balentien was called up after 63 Triple-A at bats where he batted .254/.329/.619 with 6 home runs, 20 RBI, and a stolen base. The 23-year-old rookie has played three solid years in the minor leagues hitting more than 20 home runs in each of the three seasons. In 2007, Balentien made a huge stride in his plate discipline reducing his strikeouts from 140 in 2006 to 105 in 544 plate appearances in 2007.

Balentien is also a stolen base threat. He stole 15 bases in 19 attempts last season, and had 14 and 9 stolen bases in 2006 and 2005 respectively.

Since Balentien should be the every day right fielder for the Mariners, he’s a must add in AL-only leagues. He also should be added in deep mixed-leagues and keeper leagues. If you’re in a shallow mixed-league you may want to wait and see if Balentien’s strikeouts continue to drop. If not, his batting average may hurt you more than his home runs will help.

In four starts for Triple-A Tucson, Max Scherzer has overpowered hitters. He has a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 innings, but more impressive is his strikeout to walk ratio of 38:3. It’s only been a matter of time until the promotion of Scherzer happened, and today was the day.

However, Scherzer isn’t joining the Diamondbacks rotation. It’s straight to the bullpen for Max Scherzer following his promotion to the big leagues.

“I think we’re still aware of it,” Byrnes said. “Yes, he can develop some in the big leagues. There are a lot of issues, but right now the most compelling issue is we need him in the big leagues. We just have a tired bullpen. There’s a little more short-term urgency than there has been.”

As for the bullpen/starter thing, Byrnes said the club wants him to be a starter long-term, it’s just that right now they need help in the bullpen. And what’s going to happen with his role the rest of this season?

“We’ll see,” Byrnes said. “I think that’s going to be the fluidity of this season. Sort of assessing what our big league team needs and how he can contribute. And then also aware of the longer view of him and the team.”

Homer Bailey, the Cincinnati Reds uber pitching prospect, still isn’t pitching in Cincinnati. But he’s tearing up Triple-A hitters. Harang, Arroyo, Cueto and Volquez seem pretty safe right now, but Matt Belisle needs to show Dusty Baker that he deserves that 5th rotation spot more than Bailey.

If that happens, Bailey may be promoted to the big leagues and used in a relief role.

“I haven’t thought of him as anything other than a starter,” Jocketty said. “I haven’t really talked to anybody about that.”

Bailey, a 21-year-old right-hander, is doing what he’s done the last three years: Dominating in the minors. He’s 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA for Triple-A Louisville.

Jocketty brought up Adam Wainwright in St. Louis as a reliever. Wainwright went 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 61 relief appearances in 2006. Last year, he was 14-12 with a 3.70 ERA as a starter.

Jocketty said there becomes a point when a pitcher has little to prove in the minors.

“When a guy continues to do well at that level, yeah,” Jocketty said. “There are some things they had him working on. From what I understand, he’s done well with what they’ve asked him.

26-year-old Detroit Tiger pitcher, Armando Galarraga saw his first Major league action last week and impressed with a 6.2 inning outing where he only gave up one hit, two earned runs and had six strikeouts. He got the win that day and looks as if he’ll do it again today.

The Tigers are ahead of the Blue Jays 5-0 in the 7th right now and Galarraga threw 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out four. If things hold up for him, once the game is final, Galarraga will be 2-0.

Galarraga was promoted last week to fill in for Dontrelle Willis, and anyone pitching in the potent Detroit lineup should be given some consideration. But remember that he hasn’t pitched too much above AA. He also missed a good portion of 2006 with shoulder problems. So, even though Galarraga is showing promise right now, his track record isn’t established enough to push him into the must sign category.

In AL-Only leagues you should surely look to sign him. For this short-term stint, he looks to be ready to perform. But, signing him in hopes that he’ll continue like this, or even continue in the rotation all year, is wishful thinking. You can also look at him in very deep mixed leagues right now. But only as a fill in and surely not as one of your top 5 starters. Don’t throw a lot of eggs in Armando’s basket just yet.

Lefty outfielder John Bowker saw Major League action for the first time in his career Saturday for the San Francisco Giants, and promptly went 2-3 with a home run. Then for an encore he wet 2-3 with another home run on Sunday. Not bad for the 24-year-old. His consecutive game home run streak ended at two when he went 2-4 with only a triple on Tuesday.

Bowker has come out of the gates red hot. Last season in 139 games at Double-A Connecticut, he batted .307 with 22 home runs and 37 doubles. This kid can hit, and his power keeps developing every year. With Randy Winn and Fred Lewis around, Bowker might not be around to stay, not just yet. But if his performances stay relatively close to this level, the Giants will have to find a spot for him.

Bowker is surely worth an add in NL-only fantasy baseball leagues, and he should be on your mixed-league radar as well.